§ Mr. William Powellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a consultative document on the taxation of non-residents operating in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MooreAfter careful consideration of the law and practice in this area, I have concluded that general changes to the regime would not be appropriate at the present time. We will, however, continue to keep matters under review.
We are taking this opportunity to tidy up one minor matter relating to United Kingdom interest arising to non-residents. The purpose of this is to preserve a long-standing exemption from assessment of interest paid to a non-resident through an agent who does not have control of the interest. Recently legal doubts have arisen as to whether this exemption is due under the law. We are extending an existing extra-statutory concession to make it clear that the exemption will continue to be given. I am instructing the Inland Revenue to issue a press release tomorrow containing full details.